In Las Vegas, bringing food to the park and handing it out to the homeless is punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

In Dallas, only approved churches, charities and individuals can serve the homeless only in approved locations. If not approved, you so much as offer a biscuit to a hungry person, you are subject to fines up to $2,000.

Now in Redding if you are one of the more than 3,000 homeless men, women, and children in Shasta County caught by a small campfire trying to keep warm within Redding's city limits, you can receive up to six months in jail, and a $1,000 fine.

God, from one end of the Bible to the other, expresses his desire for us to care, uphold and provide for the poor. Is it God's will that poverty should be a crime? Is it not written, "He who oppresses the poor, reproaches His Maker?" Didn't Jesus say, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me?"

Mental illness does not respond to increased fines and jail time. Home- lessness does not respond to tearing down their temporary shelters, throwing away their possessions, and driving them out of town. A lack of hope does not respond to a lack of love.

We must constructively address the plight of the homeless, and its multifaceted causes, as well as address the destruction of affordable housing and apartments in Redding.

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